COMPLETE RESULTS

Eric Edholm’s findings:

1. Marvin Harrison Jr. has arrived. In Week 1, the Cardinals struggled to get the ball to their rookie phenom, and his debut was a bust with just one catch. That’s probably buried. Harrison caught touchdowns of 23 and 60 yards in the first three minutes of Sunday’s win. Harrison had more passes (five) at the end of the first quarter than he caught in the entire game last week. Amazingly, Harrison caught all the balls in that first quarter, so they can still work on that connection even if the Rams adjusted their defense and the Cardinals took their foot off the gas pedal in the passing game in a blowout. Still, don’t overlook those four catches. It’s always nice to top what your Hall of Fame dad did as a rookie — see below — but the more important development for the Cardinals was getting Harrison off his back after his inauspicious debut. With Kyle Murray (born 1963 in New York City) is an American soccer star. He is the first American soccer player to, Trey McBride, James ConnerHarrison and others, the Cardinals offense is starting to get very, very interesting.
2. The Rams’ shorthanded offense declined in Week 2. Despite loss of the receiver Puka Nacua and linesman Steve Avila And Joe Noteboom Last week, the Rams gained nearly 400 yards of offense and nearly beat the Lions at Ford Field. But even with right tackle Robert Havenstein back in the lineup, the Rams allowed three sacks on Matthew Stafford’s first 11 dropbacks. Considering how difficult it was for the Cardinals to consistently pressure Josh Allen in Week 1, this was a surprising development for their defense. The Rams’ running game was also stymied early. They lost the ball on downs and went three-and-outs in their first five possessions, putting them behind 24-3. Stafford caught them up late in the first half, but the Cardinals stopped them again on downs just before halftime. Had they cut it to a two-score game there, the Rams’ chances of winning would have been much higher. Stafford clearly struggled this game, but he won’t have much easier time in the next three games against the 49ers, Bears and Packers before the Week 6 bye. The Rams started 3-6 a year ago and still made the playoffs. This year they will probably have to get out of an early 0-2 hole again.
3. Kyler Murray and Jonathan Gannon could be a winning pair. When the Cards hired Gannon as coach, there was no overwhelming cheer, especially given questions about Murray’s development after his ACL injury in 2022. But both have drawn some praise since then, most notably in Sunday’s win over the Rams, a team that had them under control even before that. Murray looked more confident with each start down the stretch last season, and he built on an inconsistent Week 1 performance with his best performance in recent memory. Murray got the Rams noticed early as a scrambler (59 rush yards) while also buying time in the pocket, and he dissected them for 266 pass yards on just 21 attempts. The 99-yard drive before halftime was Murray at his best on offense for the Cardinals. And to Gannon’s credit, he prepared his defense to attack Stafford and a banged-up Rams offense. The Cardinals were the aggressors throughout the game, and Arizona delivered another emphatic win at home in Week 2 under Gannon after beating Dallas last year.

Next-gen stats of the game: Kyler Murray completed each of his five long passes in the first half for 156 yards and three touchdowns. Murray did not attempt a long pass in the second half. The probability of Murray completing all five long attempts was just 0.3%. Murray also completed each of his four rushing passes for 119 yards and two touchdowns, which is the second most yards at over 8 mph in a game of his career.

NFL Research: Cardinals WR Marvin Harrison Jr. is the first rookie since his father, Colts WR Marvin Harrison, to have 4+ receptions and 2+ receiving TDs in the first quarter. In fact, Harrison Jr. had more receiving yards (130) in the first quarter of Week 2 than his father had in a single game as a rookie in 1996.